Tank wagon



FQ R. FILTER April 27 1926.

TANK WAGON Filed June 2, 1921 3 sheets-sheet 1 April 27, 1926;

f F. R. FILTER TANK WAGQN 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June l 2 1921 April 271926.

F. R. FILTER TANK WAGON FiledJune 2, 1921 3 SI'LevtS-Sheel'l 5 PatentedApr. 27, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,582,869 PATENT oFFlcE.

FRANK R. FILTER, OF WATEBTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO STANDARD OICOMPANY OF NEW YORK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

TANK WAGON.

Application filed J'une 2, 1921. Serial No. 474,488.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, FRANK R. FiLTEn, a citizen of the United States,residing at ll'atertown, in thcl Countymf Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful nImprovements inTank lVagons, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to vehicles of that class commonly called tankwagons, and it has for its object to improve the construction thereof.

Tank wagons of the kind referred to are used in transporting anddispensing liquids such as gasolene, kerosene, etc., the body of thevehicle consisting of a large sheet iron tank at the rear end of whichis provided one or more, usually several, faucets through which thecontents of the tank body can be drawn off into measures in makingdeliveries to customers. These faucets are connected with one or moreoutlets at the bottom of the tank body by pipes and it is customary toprovide valves within the body by means of which the said outlets may beclosed to prevent accidental escape, or leakage at the faucets. Thesevalves are manually operated through means which extends upwardlythrough the top of the tank to the exterior of the latter, and it isintended, and usually made a strict rule, that said valves be in openpositions only while a delivery is being made to a customer, and each beleft in-its closed position while the .vehicle is traveling from oneplace of delivery to another. In ordei to do this, however, it isnecessary for the person in charge to climb up onto the vehicle bothimmediately before and immediate ly after making a delivery in order toreach the valve operatin` means, which is objectionable, particular y tothe person in charge. Therefore, it is common practice for the latter,when starting upon his route, to disregard this rule and open thevalves, and to leave them in that condition until he has completed allkof the deliveries throughout the'route covered by him. Frequently, uponoccasions of this kind, it has happened that one or more of the faucetshave been accidentally or maliciously opened thus permitting thedischarge of gasolene from the tank onto the ground. -It has alsohappened that a tank wagon containing gasolene and traveling through acity street with its valves open has been struck in the rear by anothervehicle with the result that the faucets of the tank wagon were brokenoff, permitting the' contents of the latter to discharge onto theroadway, where it caught fire, destroyed the wagon and endangered otherproperty as well as lives. The main object of my inven-v tion is toobviate the objectionable features pointed out above and to providesimple, reliable and etlicient means for ensuring the closing of thevalves after each delivery so as to prevent the discharge of thecontents of the wagon if the faucets are accidentally or maliciouslyopened, or broken off through collision with another vehicle.V

To these ends I have provided a tank wagon with the peculiar features ofconstruction and combination of parts set forth in the followingdescription, the novel and distinguishing features of said structurebeing particularly pointed out and defined in the claims at the closethereof.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is an elevation of the rear end of the body of a tank wagonhaving applied thereto an embodiment of my invention.

Figure 2 is a partial section on line 2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side view partly in section of the rear end portion of thewagon.

Figure 4 is a section on line 4 4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a section on line 5 5 of Figure 4.

Wagons or vehicles of the class to-which my invention relates comprise atank body 1, made from sheet metal, constructed at its rear end with acompartment 2 within which are stored the measures or other vessels usedin making deliveries to customers, said compartment being separated fromthe liquid holding compartment 3 by a partition or wall 4, and commonlybeing termed a bucketboX. The compartment 2 is normally closed as usual,by a door 5 connected by hinges 6 with body l, spring latches 7 on bodyv1 serving to lock said door 5 in closed position. Just below thecompartment 2 are the usual faucets 9 connected by pipes 10 with theliquid holding compartment 3.V Upon arriving at a place of delivery thedriver depresses latches 7, opens door 5, removes from compartment 2 themeasures he is to use, draws ofi the required amountI ofdiquid atfaucets 9, and delivers the sameto the customer, replaces the measuresWithin compartment 2,

and, after closing the door 5, moves on to 4the next place of delivery.As will be clear it is necessary for the driver to open door 5 in orderto obtain the measures and it is also necessary for him to close thedoor 5 after replacing the measures in order to avoid loss of the samewhile traveling over the road.

In carrying out my. invention I provide, within compartment 2, a bracket11, riveted, or otherwise secured, .to the inner side of the rear wall12 of body 1 just above the door 5. This bracket 11 is made with a pairof downwardly projecting arms which embrace the hub of a bell cranklever 16 pivoted at 17 to said arms. One arm 18 of bell crank 16 isprovided upon opposite sides of its free end with studs 19 thatco-operate with a yoke 20, the latter being fastened by rivets, orotherwise, to the inner side of thedoor 5. lVhen the door 5 is in itsclosed position the two arms 21, 21 -of yoke 20 straddle the lowerportion of the bracket 11,'but when the door is swung outwardly andupwardly on its hinges 6 the two arms 21 swing downwardly and outwardlyin a direction to engage the studs 19 of bell crank lever 16. The otherarm 22 of bell crank 16 is connected through a. pin and slot connection23 with the lower end of a connecting rod 24 whose upper end` isprovided with a yoke 25 pivotally connected with an arm 26.\ The' lowerportion of the connecting rod 24 is within the compartment 2 and saidrod extends upwardly through an opening 27 provided in the body .1 tothe arm 26 which is upon the exterior of the bod The arm 26 is fastenedon the rear en portion of a rock shaft 28 which extends horizontallylengthwise of the tank body 1. The rear end of rock shaft 28 isjournaled in a bracket 29 secured to the top of tank body 1, whileforward ofsaid bracket 29 the rockshaft is journaled in another bracket35, see Figs. 3 and 4. Adjacent bracket 35 the shaft 28 is provided withan arm 36 having a pin and slot connection 37 with one arm of a lever 38fulcrumed at 39 upon bracket 35. The other arm 40 of lever 38 isbifurcated and straddles a collar 41 fast upon the upper end of a link42, said collar bein made with an annular groove into whic project studs43 on arm 40.

It will now be clear that when the door is swung from its closedposition shown in Figure 2 into its open posltion shown in Figure 3 thetwo arms 21 of iyoke 20 engage the studs 19 and act throug bell crank16, link 24, arm 26, rock shaft 28, arm 36 and lever 38, to move link 42upwardly. This link 42 extends downwardly from lever 38, through astuffing box 44, into compartment 3, of tank body 1, to near the bottomof the latter where its lower end is pivotally connected by a pin 45,Fig. 5, with a valve engaging lever 46. Lever 46 is fulcrumed at 47 uponan arm 48 forming part of a valve body 49 that occupies a hole providedin the bottom of the tank to which latter said body may be brazed,welded,` or otherwise secured. 'l`he stuffing box 44 is made with aradially lextending annular flange 50 to which the bracket 35 isfastened by means of a screw 51, the body portion of said stuffing boxbeing exteriorly threaded and screwed into a threaded opening in the topof tank 1.

Near its free end the lever 46 is iliade with a hole through whichextends the threaded stem 52 of the shut-off valve 53, the latter beingadapted to close downwardly onto a seat 54 provided upon body 49. Nuts59, 60, upon said threaded stem are engaged by the lever 46 for theactuation of the valve. Valve 53 controls an outlet port 55 formedthrough body 49 and connected by a delivery pipe 56 with a manifold 57to which the faucets 9 are connected, each by a pipe 10.

To the valve engaging lever 46 is fastened one end of a leaf spring 58that extends under fulcrum pin 47 with its free end resting upon thebottom of tank 1 so that said spring is under a normal initial stresswhich holds shut-off valve 53 on its seat. The spring 58 is permitted toperform this function by reason of the pin and slot connection at 23,and lost motion or play at the various joints in the train ofconnections.

It will thusy be clear that when the door 5 is swung from its openposition shown in Figure 3 to its closed position shown in Figure 2, thelever 46 and spring 58 act to lower the valve 53 onto its seat, the saidvalve 53 being thus automatically opened when the door 5 is swung intoits open position and automatically closed when the door 5 is swung intoits closed position.

As means for supporting the door 5 in its open osition I have hereinprovided a pair of co lapsible struts 30, 30, each consisting of twosections pivotally connected at their abuttin `inner ends by a kinucklejoint 31 and at t eir outer ends said sections are ivotall connected asat 32 and 33 to the oor 5 an body 1, respectively. When the struts 30occupy their extended positions they rigidly support the door 5 in itsopen position, and it will be clear that by pushing inwardly upon thetwo struts the door 5 can be. unlocked and closed downwardly, the twostruts folding up within thel compartment 2 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

My invention provides simple and reliable means for insuring the closingof shut-off valve 53 after each delivery, so that accidental ormalicious opening of a. faucet, or injury to a faucet or its pipes,cannot effect the discharge of the contents of the tank 1. Also, in thecase of leaky faucets, wastage is prevented. An advantage of theconstruction above described is that the shut-olf valve is operated bythe driver through means within his reach from nessuna e his positionupon the ground at the rear of the vehicle. Another advantage isthat-,the

urally the driver willi return the measures' to the compartment 2 andclose the d oor 5' upon completing a delivery, and will, of

necessit open the door to secure'his meas-` ures w en about to make -a`v delivery.4 It follows therefore that the shut-off valve will alwaysbe open `when deliveries are being made and will always be closed whilethe vehicle is travelin over'the road. Preferably I arrange t e bellcrank leverr16 so that should, for an reason, the spring 58 fail toclose the va ve 53' whenthe door 5 is closed, then said door will actvthrou h said lever 16 and parts connected with t e latter to positivelyreturn the valve 53 to its closed position. The shut-olf valve of theconstruction above described being auto; matically closed, none of thecontents of the tank 1 can leak out if either the faucet or the deliveryline itself is damaged. It sometimes happens that while on the road afaucet startsto leak because of the seat of the faucet valve becominworn. These seats are made of textile fa ric composition andoccasionally give out, so that if the shutoff valve is open there isleakage at the faucet. This leakage cannot occur with `the closed whensaid ompartconstruction above described. 'Whene the shut-olf valveoperating means is located on tcpof the tank the same is operatedinfrequently, so that when it is necessary to close said valve as in thecase of damage to thefaucet or pipe line, said means is sometimes found-to vvstick, therefore becoming frozen. Constant use of the valveoperatlng means of my improved construction ke s the same in perfectworking condition.

what-I claim is:

1. The combination with a tank having an` outlet, a box having a door,and a valve adapted to close said outlet, ,of operating connectionsbetween said door and said valve including a lever in said box actuatedby the door in closing to brin about the closing of the valve, and abrac et moving with the door engaging with said lever in the openingmovement ofthe door toopen. the valve.

2. The combination with a tank having an outlet, a box having a door,and a valve adapted to close saidv outlet, of operating connectionsbetween said door and said valve including a lever in said box actuatedby the door in closing to bring about the closing of the valve, and abracket moving with the door engaging with said lever in the openingmovement of the door to open the valve, and means to maintain ythe doorin open position.

l In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

. FRANK R.Y FILTER.

